Orchestra of St. Luke’s Begins 2011/12 Season At Carnegie Hall

Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL) long-running Carnegie Hall series begins this season on December 15, 2011 with an imaginative holiday program pairing J.S. Bach with Olivier Messiaen. Acclaimed for his creative programming, Robert Spano leads OSL along with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chamber Chorus, soprano Susanna Phillips, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, tenor Nicholas Phan, baritone Joshua Hopkins and instrumental soloists pianist Margaret Kampmeier and ondist Jean Laurendeau.

OSL opens its program with Bach's buoyant "Brandenburg" Concerto No. 3, which spotlights the ensemble's excellent string players. OSL has received high praise for its past performances of Bach's "Brandenburg" Concerts, including a 2003 studio recording of all six concertos, released on the ensemble's own record label St. Luke's Collection.

OSL will then perform Messiaen's Trois petites liturgies de la Présence Divine, which presents Messiaen's original sacred text with an arresting array of harmonic and timbral colors supplied by strings, percussion, piano, ondes Martenot, celesta, vibraphone and the women's chorus of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chamber Chorus. Pianist Margaret Kampmeier and ondist Jean Laurendeau perform as instrumental soloists in this stunning musical rarity.

The Bach Magnificat completes OSL's first concert of its Carnegie Hall 2011/2012 Series, conveying the festive spirit of the holiday season and displaying the range of Bach's genius in full bloom in this sacred choral work. Based on the canticle of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the work was written by Bach for his first Christmas as music director of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. Four vibrant, young American vocalists soprano Susanna Phillips, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, tenor Nicholas Phan and baritone Joshua Hopkins will perform the work's arias, with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chamber Chorus singing the choral movements.

OSL's 2011/2012 Carnegie Hall season continues on February 16, 2012, when OSL will welcome back its first music director Sir Roger Norrington to perform Haydn's Symphony No. 39 in G minor, Mozart's Symphony No. 39 in E-flat Major and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major with piano soloist Jeremy Denk. On April 12, 2012 OSL also reunites with celebrated conductor Iván Fischer to perform an all-Mozart program that includes the Requiem and Symphony No. 34 along with soprano Dominique Labelle, mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor, tenor Joseph Kaiser, baritone Richard Paul Fink and the chorus Musica Sacra under the music direction of Kent Tritle.

In addition to OSL's three-concert series, Carnegie Hall will also present OSL on February 5, 2012 in The Carmina Burana Choral Project. This a creative learning project for hundreds of high school and middle school singers from throughout New York City developed by Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute, exploring Orff's Carmina Burana to be conducted by David Robertson. The singers will perform on the main stage at Carnegie Hall and commissions new works from high school age composers. On April 24, 2012, OSL will also perform in a special one-night-only gala concert of The Sound of Music at Carnegie Hall to benefit the music education programs of Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute. The Sound of Music gala event is sponsored by Ernst & Young LLP.

Thursday, December 15, 2011
8PM
Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
Orchestra of St. Luke's
Robert Spano, Conductor

Susanna Phillips, Soprano
Sasha Cooke, Mezzo-Soprano
Nicholas Phan, Tenor
Joshua Hopkins, Baritone

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chamber Chorus
Norman Mackenzie, Director of Choruses
Margaret Kampmeier, Piano
Jean Laurendeau, ondes Martenot

PROGRAM
JOHANN Sebastian Bach "Brandenburg" Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048
OLIVIER MESSIAEN Trois petites liturgies de la Présence Divine
JOHANN Sebastian Bach Magnificat, BWV 243
Tickets